Elementary gym class mandate proposed

Jan. 29, 2014

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Associated Press

MADISON — Parents, teachers and doctors are joining together to support a bill that would require elementary students in Wisconsin to get at least half an hour of daily physical education.

The Assembly Children and Families Committee held a hearing Wednesday on the bill introduced by Republican Rep. Chad Weininger, of Green Bay.

Current law requires physical education three times a week for an unspecified amount of time. The daily gym class requirement was dropped in the late 1980s.

Weininger’s bill would apply to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. It drew support from a wide array of health groups, including the American Cancer Society and the Wisconsin Public Health Association.

Data from the state Department of Health Services shows that one in four Wisconsin adolescents are overweight or obese.